Short Interference RNA (short + interference_rna)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Nuclear translocation of UDCA by the glucocorticoid receptor is required to reduce TGF-,1,induced apoptosis in rat hepatocytes,

HEPATOLOGY, Issue 4 2005
Susana Solá
Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) inhibits classical mitochondrial pathways of apoptosis by either directly stabilizing mitochondrial membranes or modulating specific upstream targets. Furthermore, UDCA regulates apoptosis-related genes from transforming growth factor ,1 (TGF-,1),induced hepatocyte apoptosis by a nuclear steroid receptor (NSR),dependent mechanism. In this study, we further investigated the potential role of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the antiapoptotic function of UDCA. Our results with short interference RNA (siRNA) technology confirmed that UDCA significantly reduces TGF-,1,induced apoptosis of primary rat hepatocytes through a GR-dependent effect. Immunoprecipitation assays and confocal microscopy showed that UDCA enhanced free GR levels with subsequent GR nuclear translocation. Interestingly, when a carboxy-terminus deleted form of GR was used, UDCA no longer increased free GR and/or GR translocation, nor did it protect against TGF-,1,induced apoptosis. In co-transfection experiments with GR response element reporter and overexpression constructs, UDCA did not enhance the transactivation of GR with TGF-,1. Finally, using a flourescently labeled UDCA molecule, the bile acid appeared diffuse in the cytosol but was aggregated in the nucleus of hepatocytes. Both siRNA assays and transfection experiments with either wild-type or mutant forms of GR showed that nuclear trafficking occurs through a GR-dependent mechanism. In conclusion, these results further clarify the antiapoptotic mechanism(s) of UDCA and suggest that GR is crucial for the nuclear translocation of this bile acid for reducing apoptosis. (HEPATOLOGY 2005;42:925,934.) [source]


Daintain/AIF-1 promotes breast cancer proliferation via activation of the NF-,B/cyclin D1 pathway and facilitates tumor growth

CANCER SCIENCE, Issue 5 2008
Shou Liu
Recent research indicates that inflammatory factors play important roles in the initiation and progression of cancers, including breast cancer. Daintain/allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) is a crucial mediator in the inflammatory response, but it has not yet been reported whether daintain/AIF-1 is involved in the development of breast cancers. In this study, immunohistochemical analysis found strong positive expression of daintain/AIF-1 in breast ductal tumor epithelia, but only weakly positive or negative expression in the adjacent histologically normal ductal epithelia. Then, the effect of daintian/AIF-1 on the proliferation of the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 was explored via transduction of the daintian/AIF-1 gene into the cells, and via inhibition of the expression of daintain/AIF-1 through short interference RNA. The results demonstrated that up-regulation and down-regulation of daintain/AIF-1 expressions promoted and inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231, respectively. More interestingly, daintain/AIF-1 overexpression facilitated tumor growth in female nude mice. Furthermore, we found that daintain/AIF-1 overexpression up-regulated the expression of cyclin D1 and enhanced the transcriptional activity of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-,B), a regulator of cyclin D1 expression. In contrast, the down-regulation of daintain/AIF-1 expression decreased cyclin D1 expression and inhibited the transcriptional activity of NF-,B. These results strongly suggest that daintain/AIF-1 can promote the growth of breast tumors via activating NF-,B signaling, which consequently up-regulates the expression of cyclin D1, implying that daintain/AIF-1 may be a novel target molecule for the prognosis and therapy of breast cancer. (Cancer Sci 2008; 99: 952,957) [source]


Tribble 3, a novel oxidized low-density lipoprotein-inducible gene, is induced via the activating transcription factor 4,C/EBP homologous protein pathway

CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
Yuan-Yuan Shang
Summary 1.,C/EBP homologueueueous protein (CHOP), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-inducible protein, has a critical role in regulation of the cell cycle and apoptosis by forming heterodimers with other C/EBP proteins. However, how CHOP function is regulated remains to be determined. The human homologue of Drosophila tribbles (TRIB3) is associated with CHOP and is upregulated by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL). The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of CHOP in ox-LDL-induced TRIB3 expression in macrophages. 2.,Human monocyte-derived macrophages were treated with various concentrations of ox-LDL (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 25 and 50 ,g/mL) or 2 ,g/mL tunicamycin for 0, 4, 8, 16, 24 and 48 h or were transfected with CHOP or TRIB3 expression plasmid and TRIB3 targeting short interference RNA (siRNA). The expression of CHOP and activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) mRNA in treated cells was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). 3.,The expression of CHOP and ATF4 mRNA increased with increasing concentrations of ox-LDL and duration of time. The ox-LDL-induced expression of TRIB3 mRNA was upregulated later than the expression of CHOP and ATF4 mRNA. Overexpression of CHOP increased the mRNA expression of TRIB3, which was further increased in CHOP-overexpressing macrophages treated with ox-LDL. Overexpression of TRIB3 suppressed the expression of CHOP, whereas TRIB3 silencing increased CHOP expression following ox-LDL stimulation by a negative feedback mechanism. 4.,In conculsion, the expression of ATF4 and CHOP is upregulated by ox-LDL in a dose- and time-dependent manner in naturally differentiated human macrophages. Oxidized LDL induces TRIB3 expression via an ATF4/CHOP-dependent ER stress pathway. [source]


Double-stranded RNA-mediated gene silencing of cysteine proteases (falcipain-1 and -2) of Plasmodium falciparum

MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
Pawan Malhotra
Summary Malaria remains a public health problem of enormous magnitude, affecting over 500 million people every year. Lack of success in the past in the development of new drug/vaccines has mainly been attributed to poor understanding of the functions of different parasite proteins. Recently, RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as a simple and incisive technique to study gene functions in a variety of organisms. In this study, we report the results of RNAi by double-stranded RNA of cysteine protease genes (falcipain -1 and -2) in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Using RNAi directed towards falcipain genes, we demonstrate that blocking the expression of these genes results in severe morphological abnormalities in parasites, inhibition of parasite growth in vitro and substantial ­accumulation of haemoglobin in the parasite. The inhibitory effects produced by falcipain double-stranded (ds)RNAs are reminiscent of the effects observed upon administering E-64, a cysteine protease inhibitor. The parasites treated with falcipain's dsRNAs also show marked reduction in the levels of corresponding endogenous falcipain mRNAs. We also demonstrate that dsRNAs of falcipains are ­broken into short interference RNAs , 25 nucleotides in size, a characteristic of RNAi, which in turn activates sequence-specific nuclease activity in the malaria parasites. These results thus provide more evidence for the existence of RNAi in P. falciparum and also suggest possibilities for using RNAi as an effective tool to determine the functions of the genes identified from the P. falciparum genome sequencing project. [source]